M23 Restricts Movement as Ebola Spreads Across Congo
The Rwanda-backed M23 rebel alliance has imposed new civilian movement restrictions in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo as an Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo species of the virus spreads through a country divided between rival authorities. M23 said shared taxis between Goma and Kirumba will be suspended for one month starting Saturday, while pirogue travel will be halted on some Lake Edward routes, after two travelers from government-held Lubero tested positive in M23-controlled territory. The restrictions also show how M23 is using public-health administration to reinforce its role as a de facto governing authority. By running an Ebola response largely separate from Kinshasa, declaring its territory disease-free in June and now regulating movement from government-held areas, the rebels are exercising functions normally performed by the state. That parallel system adds another layer of fragmentation to an outbreak response already hampered by insecurity, displacement and difficulties tracing contacts across areas…
Europe’s Defence Industry Faces Sabotage Threat
European defence executives and military-industrial sites linked to Ukraine are facing a widening security threat, as suspected sabotage, surveillance and assassination plots increasingly target the people and infrastructure behind Kyiv's weapons supply. The pattern spans at least four countries and cases of sharply varying strength: an Estonian court has already convicted someone over one arson attack, while another case – a detained Swedish couple who turned out to be Russian anti-war emigrants – shows how easily suspicion can outrun evidence. NATO has publicly linked at least one case, the 2024 plot against Rheinmetall's chief executive, to a broader campaign it says is aimed at undermining European support for Ukraine. Estonia's Confirmed And Suspected Cases The most immediate case is Estonia, where authorities are investigating an arson attack on a building on Betooni Street in Tallinn used by Milrem Robotics, overnight from August 14 into August 15. Estonian Prime Minister Kristen…
Trump Declares “Economic D-Day” Against Iran
U.S. President Donald Trump announced a new economic offensive against Iran on Wednesday, writing on Truth Social that Washington would launch "the most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country," which he called "an economic D-day." The announcement followed the collapse of the latest diplomatic track between Washington and Tehran and came after Trump said no talks with Iran were taking place or scheduled. He said the campaign would target oil smuggling, currency swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, shipping registries and front companies sustaining Iran's economy. Trump warned that any country allowing its financial institutions, businesses, airports or government entities to aid Iran would face "Tremendous Economic Consequences," without naming targets. U.S. officials have framed the campaign as an effort to increase economic pressure rather than immediately expand military operations. The warning extends the pressure campaign beyond Tehran itself toward foreign intermediaries – banks, shipping registries and re-export…
Stealth Convoys Restore Hormuz Oil Flow
The U.S. military has built an armed convoy system through a southern channel of the Strait of Hormuz, hugging the Omani coastline, that now moves roughly 10 million barrels of crude a day out of the Persian Gulf. Two U.S. officials described the operation to Axios, which first reported it. The route keeps tankers on Oman's side of the strait, clear of Iran's primary anti-ship missile zones, and has restored roughly half of pre-war export volumes even as the broader U.S.-Iran war stays stalemated. Each night, the operation moves both outbound laden tankers and empty inbound vessels, collecting crude from the UAE, Bahrain, and Kuwait. A task force based at the Army's 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg coordinates the schedule, while U.S. Air Force jets patrol overhead for Iranian drones and cruise missiles. One official said forces shot down eight drones and two cruise missiles in a single night…
Kyiv Hit by Missiles, Ukraine Strikes Russian Refinery
Russian forces launched a coordinated, multi-vector strike across Ukraine overnight, concentrating the largest share of the barrage on Kyiv in what defense officials described as an attempt to overwhelm the capital's layered air-defense coverage around dense civilian and infrastructure clusters. According to the Kyiv Post, ballistic and Kalibr cruise missiles combined with jet-powered drones killed at least five people and injured 23, damaging a children's hospital, a school and a five-story residential building across more than a dozen sites in the capital. Separately, a Russian drone strike on police headquarters in Zhytomyr earlier in the night killed two people and injured more than 40, the Kyiv Independent reported. Ukraine's Air Force said the salvo combined Oniks, Zircon, Iskander-M and S-400 ballistic weapons with Kh-101/Iskander-K cruise missiles, Kalibr missiles, two S8000 "Banderol" loitering munitions and roughly 168 Shahed-type drones and decoys, with Ukrainian forces reporting 186 targets downed or suppressed. The…
Syria Discloses Nuclear Material And Resets IAEA Ties
Syria has voluntarily disclosed previously undeclared nuclear material from the Assad-era program, seeking to reopen cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said Damascus sent the agency an official letter on July 17, 2026, declaring "of our own free will the presence of nuclear materials at an undeclared site within the legacy left by the former regime." IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi confirmed after a two-day Damascus visit that inspectors had accessed the site, calling the find "a few tons of nuclear material that could be put to bad use." Inspectors visited the former Al-Kibar reactor site in Deir Ezzor, destroyed by Israel in a 2007 airstrike after the United States and IAEA assessed that the site was likely a covert nuclear reactor project with suspected North Korean assistance, plus a second undisclosed location. Regional security sources identified the separate storage location as "Site…
